Courting
by thetingirl
Summary: Before The Boy Who Lived, before the war, there was another story. JxL [NOTE: I don't know all the details to the story of Lily and James that is described in the Harry Potter books. So please don't complain about 'That's not right' and such. Thankies!]
1. Chapter 1

"Okay, here's the game!" A kid with dark brown hair said, holding up his hands. His three friends stared at him intently. "We watch the passers-by but only the girls."

"I like this game already..." A boy with dark hair and glasses muttered as he leaned against a tree trunk.

"Shut up James, he's still talking..." a round toe-headed boy said quietly, trying to listen, his bright blue eyes

"Thanks Peter. Each one we rate 1-5" The brown haired boy continued, his dark brown eyes twinkling. "1 is ugliest 5 is the prettiest. But heres the trick, if you say 5 for a girl, you have to go up and talk to here. And- Lupin are you listening?"

A boy with long almost reddish- brown hair glanced up from a book, "No Sirius I'm really not." His green eyes then went back to his book.

"Fine then, no chick spotting for you." Sirius snapped back, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm going first, next Peter, then James."

They all wore white oxford shirts with red and orange ties. Then black pants. They would have worn their black robes but it was just the beginning of fall, they would have been too hot. That WAS Hogwarts dress code. Except some students wore green, others blue and others gold. The four houses: Gryffindor (theirs), Slytherin, Huffelpuff and Ravenclaw.

All the boys (except Lupin) looked at the first girl who passed by there tree. An extremely tall girl with a long face and long blonde hair. Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Ehhh...2 just because I'm nice. Your turn Peter."

The younger boy sighed and stared intently at the next girl. A slim but short girl, long dark hair and bright green eyes that stared straight ahead grimly. "She's pretty I saw a 4." Peter said with a smile.

"That's your opinion." Sirius said with a shrug. "Your turn mate." He said looking up at James, from his spot at his feet.

James' dark eyes glanced up and his face turned a bright shade of red. "Well what do you know...It's Lily." Lupin said with a smirk, looking up from his spot at the foot of the trunk, not far from Sirius.

"Okay so James what do you rate her?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

James pushed himself up off the trunk and walked over to the red headed girl the other two called 'Lily'. Sirius rolled over with laughter as Lupin just smirked and went back to reading.

James took a deep breath and hurried to catch up with the girl. She wore a white shirt as well except she had on a grey shirt and sleeve-less sweater. The sweater had a red and orange emblem in the top right corner, with a loin-looking creature rearing. This showed she was also in Gryffindor.

"Err...your name is Lily right?" James said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

The girl simply glanced over her shoulder and nodded, her green eyes glancing back at him briefly. "I'm uhh-"

"James, I know." She said softly and she began to walk a bit faster. "You're the one who always makes such a fuss in potions class."

"What can I say? I'm more of a...Charms type of guy." He said, as a joke.

"From what I know, you aren't too good in that class either." She obviously didn't get it.

They were now inside and James was trying to catch up with her suddenly she opened a door and wheeled around to look him straight in the face. "You don't want to come in here." She warned.

"Whys that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

He pushed past her and turned a bright shade of red when he saw a bunch of girls gathered around the sink. They shirked, "OUT!! EWWW!"

James ran out quickly and back to the tree, Lily laughing at him as he ran.


	2. Chapter 2

"So he followed you all the way to the girls' laboratory?" A girl giggled who was sitting next to the red headed girl.

"No, more like into." Lily replied with a smile as she neatly finished writing her report.

Her and a few friends were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, doing work. Well, Lily was actually doing work the others were prying into the events of the morning.

"He must like you a lot." Another girl said, resting her chin in her palm and sighing, "I wish one of those boys would follow ME around. I mean that Peter boy is a bit...EW. But Sirius, James and Lupin are gorgeous. And they are so intriguing too. You must feel so privileged Lily!"

"Not really." Lily replied as she stacked up her papers, "In fact, I found it a bit annoying actually."

"It's obvious the poor boy adores you." One girl said as she stared over at their red-headed friend.

"He's probably just trying to cause some trouble. I don't like getting into trouble." Lily replied, sitting back and pulling her feet up onto the chair. She chuckled a bit, "Though it was funny when he realized where he was."

At that moment the four boys stepped into the common room. Lily and her friends looked over at them, they looked back. There was an awkward moment of silence and then all the girls began to burst out laughing.

James' face got extremely rosy and hot. "What's so funny?" Sirius asked, piping up for his friend, who was at the moment inarticulate.

One girl managed to catch her breathe. "I wish I could have seen the look on his face." They then started a new round of laughter.

Sirius looked extremely confused. He flipped his dark bangs out of his face with a huff. "When? What are you talking about?"

James pushed Sirius away from the group of girls and towards the stairs leading up to the boy's dormitory. The other two followed. "I'll uh...explain later..." James muttered. He then stared over at Lily and their eyes met for a moment and James' eyes stayed focused on hers. Lily was the one to break the connection first. She looked down at her papers and gulped a bit.

James smiled and walked upstairs, a bit proud of him self. Her face had turned almost as red as his.


	3. Chapter 3

James let out a groan as he leaned back in his seat. Sirius, who was sitting next to him was already asleep, it had barely been fifteen minutes of class. Lupin, as usual was taking notes to what their Charms professor said, even though the professor said at the beginning they didn't have to take notes. And poor Peter was trying franticly to fit in with at least one of them.

James got bored of listening to the lecture about animagus. "I don't see why your taking notes..." He mumbled to Lupin as he started to try to huff a bit of hair out of his eyes.

"I need to do something." Lupin mumbled, "And stop fiddling with your hair, it's annoying and distracting."

"Like your one to talk Repunzel." James shot back.

"Here." Lupin said quietly, shoving James a piece of parchment.

James inspected it and looked over at Lupin again. "There isn't anything ON this paper..."

Lupin glared up at him, "That's because YOU have to write something on it, doof." He mumbled.

"I don't have a quill..."James said with a scowl. This was soon fixed as Lupin shoved one into his hand. "Or ink..." James added.

"Use Sirius'. I can assure you he won't mind." Lupin said, pointing to the sleeping boy next to James.

"Uhhh...I don't know what to write." James tried again.

"Write something to Lily." Lupin mumbled scribbling more on his parchment.

"That's stupid..." James groaned but glanced over to see Lily was also taking notes.

"Actually girls find it very...uhmmm...romantic, yes that's the word." Lupin said, shaking his cramped up hand.

"Well what do I write?" James asked shaking the blank sheet.

"A poem." Lupin said as he went back to writing.

"I don't know how to write a poem." James said, coming up with another excuse.

"PLEASE!" Lupin said glaring at him. "Just do something other than talk to me!

"Fine, fine, fine wolf-boy." James said almost in a whisper.

For this, he received a large whack over the head from Lupin as he turned around. 

"OW!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head. 

"Mr. Potter? Have you got something to say?" The Professor asked, staring intently at James.

"Ya ummm...Is that a new robe sir? It looks very nice." He said with a smirk.

"This HAPPENS to be the same one I've been wearing everyday this year, Mr. Potter so PLEASE, just stay quiet if you aren't going to listen." The Professor snapped.

James sighed and dipped his quill in some ink and stared at the paper. He groaned and began his first stanza, scribbling random words he though girls would find...'nice' and 'beautiful' ohhh and what was that word Lupin had used...'romantic'?


	4. Chapter 4

Later in the afternoon, James was still trying to figure out what to write. He sat by 'his' tree, chewing his lip. He'd smile every once and a while and scribble something down. He let out a sigh and looked at it smiling.

"Hey, mate," Sirius greeted. He plopped down next to James and stared at the paper too. "Is it another map?"

James shook his head.

"A code." Sirius tried again.

Once again, James shook his head.

"Or maybe a secret letter from another world." Sirius said suddenly excited.

James gave him an odd look.

"Just an idea..." Sirius mumbled. "What is it then?"

"A poem." James said proudly.

Sirius snatched the paper and read a bit, stifling laughs now and then. Finally he finished, whipping his eyes a bit.

"Beautiful?" James asked with a smirk.

"Horrid, absolutely horrid." Sirius replied, throwing it over to him.

"Ya, like you could write any better." James replied with a sigh.

Sirius snatched the paper back and recited, "'At least you don't smell like stinky cheese...'Oh yes...that is just pure poetry."

"Ya well I'd like to see you write a love poem." James grumbled his good mood suddenly gloomy.

"Okay, expect it done by supper." Sirius said standing up with a smirk. He tossed the paper over his shoulder and walked off. He turned away once he was a few feet away from James. "Oh yes and you spelled cheese wrong, just so you know."

James jumped up, running after Sirius who was laughing hysterically and hurrying inside the school.

---

"There James." Sirius said as he sat himself down next to their group in the great hall.

"What's this?" James asked holding up the paper he had slapped down.

"Your poem." Sirius said with a smirk.

"You're kidding..."James grumbled.

"Nope, slip it in her book when she isn't looking." Sirius replied, pointing not to far down the table where Lily and her friends sat.

"Fine..." James said with a sigh. He handed the paper to Lupin who lifted up the book's cover and slipped it underneath.

Soon the food appeared and everyone began to eat.

---

Lily grabbed her books as she stood up from the dinning table. She saw some paper flutter to the ground. She told her friends to wait as she picked it up, looking it over. She giggled a bit.

She glanced up and noticed James was watching her. "Thanks." she said with a smile.

"Err...no problem..." James said back with a gulp.

"No, I meant Sirius." Lily said with a smirk, turning and walking away with her friends, leaving Peter, James and Lupin Confused. Sirius was simply proud.


	5. Chapter 5

_I am sorry for not updating in forever. xD _

_I've been busy with school and all. Plus, I was kind of stuck. Anyways, please enjoy. :)_

* * *

"Oh Come on James." Sirius groaned as he followed his friend down to the dormitory. "How was I supposed to know that she'd know?"

"Sirius I already told you I'm not mad at you." James said rolling his eyes.

"Yes but you are very quiet and it is a bit uncomfortable." Sirius pointed out to his friend.

"I'm just...angry." He said and before Sirius could put in what was running though his head James added

"But not at you."

"Oh..." the other boy said, thinking a moment. "Then who are you mad at?"

"Lily." James mumbled as they neared their dorms.

"Lily?" Sirius asked. "What did she do?"

"She laughed at me." James mumbled, trudging up the stairs.

Sirius chuckled a bit. "It WAS kind of funny..." He received an angry glare from James. "But VERY rude. I agree." He added quickly.

James rolled his eyes before reciting the password and heading into the Gryffindor Common Room. He winced as the girls sitting around the fire exploded into giggles when they saw him. He felt his face get hot as he glared over at them. Lily just smirked.  
As he went to go up to the boy's wing, a girl whispered something in Lily's ear the red head busted out laughing.

James turned around and glared at them. "What is your problem?"

"Come again?" Lily asked with a smile.

"I didn't stutter!" James snapped back.

"We weren't talking about you. You don't have to be so paranoid." Lily said coolly.

"What about in the Dinning Hall?" James growled. "I'm guessing that wasn't about me either."

"No that WAS about you." She said. "That poem was obviously written by Sirius."

"How would you know?" James asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because if you wrote a poem it'd probably have something about cheese in it." Lily replied with a smile.

"Ya, and what makes you think you know me so well?" James snapped.

There was an odd silence. "W-well uh...just by the way you act!" Lily said quickly, interrupting the silence.

"And can you admit that you don't find it slightly attractive?" James asked with a smirk.

"What?!" Lily exclaimed. "No! No I do not!"

"So if I, right now, asked you to get a drink with me the next time at Hogsmede, what would you say?"

He asked with another smirk, leaning close to Lily's face.

Lily shoved him away and stomped up to the girl's wing. Her friend following closely behind.


	6. Chapter 6

_Don't hate me because I haven't updated in forever….I planned on doing it this summer, but I wanted to finish the 7__th__ book first…So really, can you blame me? _

---

Brushed hair? Check.

Nice breath? Check.

Smooth face? Check.

Good hygiene? Well….he didn't take a bath because he was too busy worrying about the other things…but had put on a lot of body spray…that would work wouldn't it?

James wasn't even sure if Lily was coming she didn't exactly say yes, but at the same time, she didn't say no either. So, just to be safe he had 'prettied' himself up. Which was the words Peter had used when he say James spraying body spray all over himself.

So now, the dark haired boy stood, just looking around. His hands shoved into his jean pockets, rolling back and forth on his heels.

"You smell like you bathed in body spray…" came a female voice from behind him, making him stumble.

Lily stood there, her nose wrinkled a bit, but a small smile was on her face.

"I didn't think you'd show…" he said, ignoring her comment about his smell.

"I didn't plan to…but then one of my friends said she'd pay me to go." She said, putting a hand on hip.

"Really?" James asked, raising an eyebrow "How much?"

"That's not important." Lily responded. "Can we just get going now or something?" she asked with a sigh.

"Fine… Fine…" James said, heading into Hogsmede "Where to?"

"I don't care…" Lily mumbled, watching her shoes as she followed him.

"Well I'm not going to pick." James said back.

"Why not?" Lily questioned, looking up at him.

James didn't turn around, "Because, I'll choose somewhere and you'll be miserable and blame it on me because I chose the place. Now you choose."

Lily sighed exasperated, "Fine, let's….go in here." She said, before turning and pushing open the door to a small café.

James turned as well and followed her.

It wasn't long before they were seated and both of them were looking at the small, decorative menus. James looked reread things twice. Not sure what about half of the French words meant. However, Lily soon put her menu down and watched James, with a slightly amused look on her face.

A waitress came over, in a neat outfit and a false smile. "Can I help you?" she asked, obviously trying to sound sweet and sincere. She was obviously failing.

"I'll have an iced coffee with whipped cream please." Lily said sweetly, smiling back at her. She was better at acting.

"And you?" the waitress asked, turning to James.

"Uhh…what she said…" James said quickly, handing over the menu.

The waitress removed both menus and hurried off. James started to chuckle a bit, making Lily smile a little as well.

"Someone's not having a good day…"he mumbled.

"I think that's clear." Lily said, laughing a small bit herself.

They both let out a small sigh, and feel into silence.

"So, uh…how's…..school…?" James tried with a raised eyebrow, just looking for something to break and awkwardness.

"It's good I guess…so much more fun than the ones I used to go to. Well sometimes…" she said, James looked a bit confused, so she elaborated. "At the other school we had to learn about addition and multiplicative inverses…and dead guys we'd never need to know anything about. And then here we learn about how to make things float and….all the dead people you need to learn about are in a hallway somewhere, in some painting."

"I see…." James said, nodding his head a bit, he thought about this a moment then said, "What's a multiplicative inverse?"

Lily just laughed a minutes and smiled at him.

James smiled back, pleased that he had gotten her to laugh. They stared at each other for a few moments. His dark eyes stared at her green ones, a smile still on his face.

"Ehmmm." The waitress coughed, trying to get the two's attention.

"Oh yes, err, thank you." Lily said looking up at her and smiling again as the cups were placed on their table.  
Lily picked up her cup after it was just her and James again. She took a small sip, before setting it back down.

James began to follow but the moment the liquid touched his lips, he put it back down.

Lily gave him an odd look, before he said, "This tastes revolting."

"Shut up and drink it." She said, with a smirk before drinking her own.

---

"So then I told them that it was just a matter of making sure that the professor didn't see you." James explained to Lily as he walked along side her down one of Hogsmede's street. "Because, really, I don't believe it's illegal unless you're caught."

"I totally disagree. It's still illegal." Lily argued. "You still did something against the rules. And rules are there for reasons and you should feel guilty for doing it. Even if you don't get detention for it."

"Right…well…you know not everyone feels guilty when they do something they 'aren't supposed to'." James said, waving a hand "You know like...people who go around killing people."

"Or hang people upside down in mid air…" Lily said, scowling at him a moment.

"Are you still sore about that?" James groaned, running a hand though his hair, which had long since lost the nice look it had when it was brushed.

"Yes. Yes I am!" Lily said with a sigh.

"Okay listen, I'm sorry okay?" James begged, looking over at her before giving her one of his weird smiles.

Lily of course had to giggle a bit, though she fought. "You should be apologizing to me, you should be apologizing to Sniv- I mean Serevus…"

James just rolled his eyes a bit before checking his watch. "You should get back to you're friend. To get that money…" he said.

"What money?" Lily asked, looking confused.

"You know the money you're going to get for going out with me." He said.

"Huh? OH! Right…right…the uh….money. Right…"She said, as she started turning across the street as James stood there, smiling at her as she left.

"Bye Lily Evans." He said with a small wink before heading off as well.


End file.
